I'm asking this question on the behalf of my friend.
So, recently, my friend's story seemed remarkably similar to a published story(FYI, my friend's story is still in the drafting stage, I'm just helping her with suggestions and a bit of editing). A similar plot, with similar character names. She's not plagiarising the text; it's just the concept of the story that is so similar.
Now, I know that my friend will never intentionally copy someone else's story, so I believe that it's just a coincidence.
Similarities:
- Has a character named Frosten
- Both Frostens are playful and carefree
- Both can fly
- Frosten has a best friend
- Frosten is captured by a group or someone in both stories
- Frosten and another character from the original both have a bit of a hard time fitting in
- Both Frostens have been betrayed to the group by someone from their own tribe or herd
- Becoming captured resulted in a personality change(both became less playful and carefree afterward)
- Many similar character names between the two stories(e.g. Morningwind from the original and Morningcloud from my friend's draft)
- Similar plots around the beginning to climax
Differences:
- Frosten in my friend's draft is the main character, while the Frosten in the original is not the main character
- Frosten is a boy in my friend's story, a girl in the original
- The two Frostens are different species of mythical creatures
- Very different plots towards the end
(Disclaimer: Frosten was not actually a character in the original story)
Are the two books too similar? FYI, I never read the original book, but I saw a Wiki on it. What can I suggest to my friend to make these two stories less identical?
Note: My friend is just writing her book for fun, but I'm still going to try to convince her to change her story up so that she can get it published.